1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a belt adjuster for fastening a first belt and a second belt to each other and for holding the second belt such that a length thereof is adjustable.
2. Description of Related Art
As such a belt adjuster for fastening a fixation belt and a length adjustable belt, a belt adjuster disclosed in the Document (Japanese Laid-open utility model publication No. Sho 64-6098: FIGS. 1, 5, 6 and 7) has long been known.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the belt adjuster disclosed includes: a frame 104 having a base section 101, a pair of leg sections 102 extending in parallel in a common direction from respective ends of the base section 101, and a connecting section 103 connecting the leg sections 102 on the opposite side of the base section 101; a belt attachment pole 105 integrally provided to bridge the pair of leg section at a position near the connecting section 103 of the frame 104; a belt-folding pole 106 integrally provided to bridge the pair of leg sections 102 at a position near the base section 101 of the frame 104; a belt-receiving section 107 provided so as to form a right angle extending from a front side toward a rear side at a position on the belt-folding pole 106 side of the base section 101; and a holding section 108 provided so as to project in a trapezoidal shape toward the opposite side of that of the belt-folding pole 106 of the base section 101.
When in use, the fixation belt 100A is threaded between the belt attachment pole 105 and the belt-folding pole 106 from the rear side to the front side, and then threaded between the belt attachment pole 105 and the connecting section 103 from the front side to the rear side to be fixed by a rivet or by suturing. On the other hand, the length adjustable belt 100B is threaded between the belt attachment pole 105 and the belt-folding pole 106 from the rear side to the front side, and then threaded between the belt-folding pole 106 and the belt-receiving section 107 from the front side to the rear side.
In order to adjust the length of the length adjustable belt 100B from this state, the whole belt adjuster is rotated in a direction away from the holding section 108 (in anticlockwise direction in FIG. 11) around a rotation axis on the connecting section 103 side by raising the holding section 108 with fingers. Accordingly, the belt-receiving section 107 becomes separated from the length adjustable belt 100B, increasing a bending angle of the length adjustable belt 100B. In this state, the length adjustable belt 100B can be adjusted to have a desired length by pulling a tip end side thereof.
According to the arrangement disclosed in the Document, the width of the holding section 108 is approximately less than half of that of the base section 101, so that it is difficult to hold the holding section 108 with fingers.
The holding section 108 is formed with a hole 109 passing through from the upper surface side to the rear side. However, since the shape of the hole 109 is trapezoidal, which is similar to that of the holding section 108, the hole 109 does not have a function for guiding fingers thereon to its center. Hence, in a case in which a user holds the holding section 108 at a position off the center with fingers to rotate the whole belt adjuster, the belt adjuster will be rotated in a slanted posture, which may prevent smooth length adjustment of the length adjustable belt 100B.
When the user holds the holding section 108 with fingers and rotates it, since a rear surface of the holding section 108 is flat, the holding section 108 is slippery, so that the belt adjuster may be rotated aslant by raising the rear surface of the holding section 108. Also in this case, the length of the length adjustable belt 100B may not be smoothly adjusted like in the case described above.